MJ's Business IT Blog

What Will Windows 7 Mean For Your Business?

I recently wrote a column for our local paper, The Portsmouth Herald, about what Windows 7 will mean for businesses.  Check it out here and let me know what you think this new version of Windows will mean for your business?

I'm off on our annual ski vacation during school vacation week this week, so I may not have a chance to post again until the week of March 2nd.  If that's the case, enjoy the rest of your February and I'll be back at it in a little over a week.

Distracted by Twitter and Facebook

This morning I realized that I have not posted to my blog in a while.  As soon as I had that thought, I realized I should go update my status on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Plaxo and then I immediately realized the reason I have not posted to my blog in a while is because these sites have been distracting me from it!  Somewhere in there is a Catch-22, an enigma wrapped in a riddle... you get the idea.  It can be overwhelming and confusing at time.

The Facebook craze seems to have hit another high stride of late.  Hardly a day goes by that someone doesn't ask to be my friend or one of my friend's doesn't tag me in a photo or list or who knows what.  It's actually been fun to catch up with so many people that I have lost touch with or just don't talk to as frequently as I used to.  I even managed to see some old friends at a recent college hockey game because we coordinated on Facebook.

At the same time, it can be a distraction and you need to be careful that you don't get drawn in to oblivion with these social networking sites.  I do enjoy updating my status and learning more about others and what they are doing.  At the same time, I'm having to limit myself, so I don't waste a ton or time or lose productive time to a very addicting medium.  And like most business owners, I'm trying to figure out if there really is a business use for social networks.  Are they able to help me market our business and develop new clients or lines of business?  That's the question of the hour for me.  Personally, it's a great tool to maintain contact with friends near and far.  Professionally is it helping our business in any way?  Maybe, time will tell.  What are your thoughts about all this?

The Importance of the CompTIA Security Trustmark

I just read an article by Mike Vizard over at Channel Insider, an industry publication, talking about the CompTIA Security Trustmark.  You can read the article online here.  Mike is spot on in his analysis.  I have long advocated that our industry goes about things backwards.  The IT industry operates somewhat like the automotive industry, in that manfucaturers recruit dealers (resellers in IT lingo), but don't offer the compete package of marketing and warranty support the way they should.  It's not done with the end customers best interests in sight and in my eyes, is therefore flawed.

An initiative like the CompTIA Security Trustmark looks to change that.  This company accreditation provides objective, vendor neutral qualification to the end customer that the company they are hiring really does possess the expertise they claim they have.  Hiring and IT firm is like hiring an employee.  Until you actually work together, you don't really know what you've got.  The CompTIA Security Trustmark looks to change that, by qualifying the company for the end customer and providing them with an assurance that the company can do what they say they can.

The point of the article that I make reference to is that manfucturer's need to get behind this.  It's in their best interests to educate their target market that hiring a firm with this Trustmark is good for their business.  It's a more ethical way to market, and just plain makes sense.  Well done CompTIA and well done Channel Insider for recognizing this.  You may read the full article and my comments here.

Web 2.0 and Online Video

We received a very flattering post about our new website from the nice folks over at MSPmentor, specifically Joe Panettieriwhom I have a tremendous amount of respect for.  Joe and his team do a wonderful job reporting on our industry and specifically about things related to proactive managed IT services.

Joe posted yesterday about the blending of Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 technologies and specifically how we have blended static informational web content with some more dynamic and personal video to help provide a little further insight into our organization and what we do for our clients.  You can read Joe's post here and check out his comments.  Our new web site ishere and you will be able to see some of the video content from the button at the top of the site as well as our Solutions page.

Thanks for the compliments Joe.  I get a tremendous amount of value from your site and appreciate your dedication to furthering our industry, all with an eye toward insuring we are meeting our clients needs, which is what's most important after all.

Today Is Safer Internet Day

With special thanks to my good friend Linda Lynch over at KI Technology Group in East Lansing, MI.

Today is Safer Internet Day, an international initiative that was started in 2004 in an effort to help consumers learn more about safer online practices. Last year, 120 organizations in 56 countries took part, and organizers are hoping for even greater participation in 2009.

If you haven't talked to your kids about safe use of the internet, consider taking some time today to start the conversation. Here are some tips to bet you started.

-- Make sure kids respect one another online and abide by good behavior. They should not write or post anything that could bring harm to themselves or someone else. The web is a lot more public and permanent than it seems.

-- Talk to your children about the responsibilities of being online and how their own behavior might put them and the family at risk. Make sure kids know they can come to you when something makes them feel uncomfortable without fear of losing their Internet privileges.

-- Place the family computer in a common place in your house and use family safety software so you can restrict the websites your children visit, monitor who they contact, and limit the time they spend online.

-- Tell your children that they should never physically meet with anyone they have only become “friends” with online. Kids may think they know them well, but they may be fooled.

-- Make sure children know that they should never share personal information online, including their address, phone number, social security number, current school or when they will be on vacation. All of these things create a personal profile that a predator could use for nefarious purposes.

-- If your children have pages on social networking sites, set up your own page and make your children one of your friends. This will allow you to monitor their activities on the site. You should probably also review their pages with them periodically. If your kids have aunts and uncles, encourage them to connect as well. It's a great way to learn more about each other and lets your kids know that adults are viewing the things that they post on their pages.linda

Windows 7 Is Taking Shape

You may be aware that Microsoft is preparing the next generation of the Windows operating system, Windows 7.  This will be the replacement for the much criticized Windows Vista.  The basic premise of the upgrade is to address the myriad of criticism that Windows Vista has received since reaching the market.

For the record, my personal experience with Windows Vista, on my own tablet PC as well as with clients, has not been bad.  There are things that I like about Windows Vista and things that could be improved.  There is always room for improvement.  I think the real key to the criticism is that too many people tried to run Windows Vista on hardware that was just not robust enough.  With sufficient hardware, Windows Vista has performed well and been a stable operating system.

Regardless, Microsoft has recognized the PR problem it has with Windows Vista and has responded in a remarkably nimble way to bring Windows 7 to market.  It is already in public beta and will be moving to release later this year.  Initial reports have Windows 7 performing very well and addressing nearly all of the well reported concerns.  Our own internal testing of Windows 7 has been very positive.  It performs well, is stable and addresses the myriad of user experience complaints.

Today, Microsoft also released details on the editions of Windows 7 that will be available.  Unlike Windows Vista, Windows 7 editions will build on each other.  In other words, each edition will include all the features of the edition it upgrades, so that you will have the cumulative feature sets in each successive edition.  This just makes sense and should make it easier to decide which edition of Windows 7 is best for you.  The editions are as follows:

Windows 7 Home Basic - best for home users.

Windows 7 Home Premium - for home users that want enhanced media capabilities like Media Center.

Windows 7 Professional - best for business users.

Windows 7 Enterprise - best for businesses that license Windows for all their PC's.

Windows 7 Ultimate - for those that want it all.

More details about what each edition provides will be coming and you should check the Windows 7 web site for current details.  As more details emerge about the final release of Windows 7, it looks like it will make amends for whatever may have annoyed you about any other version of Windows.  Stay tuned for more details as we get closer to the official release.

Just Say No!

A good friend and colleague of mine was recently interviewed on TV because she has been able to keep her business growing during these difficult economic times.  When asked what her secret was, she evoked the Just Say No anti-drug campaign that was conceived of by former First Lady Nancy Reagan.

Simply put, she says she is refusing to partake in the recession.  She has set her mind and her thoughts on a positive track and is not allowing herself to be dragged down by negative news or negative people.  In many respects, what she is doing is nothing revolutionary.  Does make "lemonade out of lemons" ring a bell?  Many motivational professionals will tell you to avoid negativity in order to maintain a positive outlook.  While complete avoidance of negative input is a near impossibility, just because we hear or see negativity, that doesn't mean we ourselves have to become negative as a result.

There is no question that we are in tough economic times, but I do agree that it does not have to be gloom and doom.  I want to say "No" every single day and work my hardest to make things better for our staff and our clients.  After all, that's why I decided to go into business in the first place.  I do believe that if we all stay focused and do what we know is right, we will weather this uncertainty quickly and successfully.  Maybe we should all boycott the news for a few months (and that's coming from a self professed news junkie!).  Time will tell, but I do like the premise behind refusing to partake in a recession and just saying no.  Here's to improved times for everyone!